


Hero Takes a Fall

by Grebyn



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst and Feels, Archie Andrews Being Archie Andrews, Archie Andrews Being an Asshole, Archie Andrews Being an Idiot, Barchie is not endgame, Betty Cooper Being Brutally Honest, Betty Cooper Loves Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper Needs a Hug, Bughead open ending, F/M, Gen, Jughead Jones Being Extra, Jughead Jones Loves Betty Cooper, Jughead Jones Needs a Hug, Past Archie Andrews & Jughead Jones, Past Betty Cooper/Archie Andrews - Freeform, Riverdale (TV) season 5
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-20 12:40:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30005022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grebyn/pseuds/Grebyn
Summary: Jughead finds out that Betty and Archie have been sleeping together. The shit hits the fan, cups spill over, dirty laundry is aired and it all comes crashing down. Everyone is forced to face the music. No one is let off easy, no one is innocent, but some take it better than others._______________________________________________________________________________The combination of the Covid pandemic and the shitshow that Riverdale has become tickled my creative bone. So here it is, my first fanfic ever. Enjoy.I have not watched season 5 after the graduation episode and have only kept up with it through spoilers and episode synopses so there might be some inconsistencies with canon in this fic.
Relationships: Archie Andrews & Jughead Jones, Archie Andrews/Betty Cooper, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 14
Kudos: 50





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this fic is inspired by an early hit from one my favourite all-woman bands ever, The Bangles, Hero Takes a Fall.
> 
> The hero is exposed when  
> His crimes are brought to the light of day  
> Won't be feelin' sorry, sorry, sorry  
> On the judgement day  
> It wasn't me who said  
> There'll be a price to pay  
> And I won't feel bad at all  
> When the hero takes a fall
> 
> More song inspirations in later chapters.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jughead finds out and the jig is up.

Archie didn’t expect anyone to be at the house when he got back home, so he was surprised to see Jughead’s coat hanging on the coat rack in the entryway. He thought Jughead had a later shift at Pop’s but it was just as well, maybe they could enjoy some video games and catch up about their day. Then his eyes fell on the packed bag by the stairs and a feeling of confusion and worry took over his head.

“Jug? You here?” Archie called out while walking into the kitchen. Jughead was standing next to the sink, drying a cup and the coffee pot with a tea towel, presumably after having just used and washed them but he didn’t respond to Archie’s call. He just stood there with an expression on his face Archie knew but didn’t immediately recognise.

“Jug! What’s up? I didn’t think you’d be home this early. What’s with the bag, are you going somewhere?” Archie asked with a casual tone of voice while grabbing a soda from the fridge. And sitting down by the kitchen island.   
  
Jughead put down the cup and slowly folded the tea towel on the oven handle, not saying a word. His jaw was clenched and when he spoke, there was tension in his voice. “I’m leaving. Tabitha said I could crash on her couch.”

Archie put down his drink and looked at Jughead in confusion. “What are you talking about, man? Why do you have to go to Tabitha’s? Just stay here.” 

He sat up and looked at Jughead with his brow furrowed. Jughead had now turned to look at him and Archie knew something was wrong. Jughead was standing with his shoulders squared and his arms crossed across his chest, looking at Archie with his eyes narrowed. 

“Is something wrong?” Archie was starting to get worried. Something about Jughead’s expression reminded Archie of the time his mom had caught him sneaking home drunk after his first kegger at Chuck Clayton’s house and he had thrown up in front of her, barely missing her slippers. 

Jughead walked up to Archie, dear, sweet, oblivious Archie who never saw further than his own nose, and held up his balled left hand to his friend’s face. “You could say that something is wrong, yes. Has been for a long time. I found this in the bathroom.” Jughead opened his grip a bit and a necklace fell out, dangling from Jughead’s fingers. 

A silver necklace with a hammer charm.    
  
_ Betty’s _ necklace. 

Archie suddenly felt a knot starting to form in his stomach. He knew that Jughead knew. There was no use trying to lie, he knew better than that. Staring at the necklace, because he couldn’t bring himself to look his best friend in the eye, Archie cleared his throat. “That’s Betty’s. She must have left it here the last time…”

“...you guys fucked.” Jughead finished the sentence, barely controlling his emotions and his aggression. A chilly silence suddenly fell over the Andrews kitchen and for a while, neither of them spoke. They barely moved. Archie gritted his teeth together, his eyes darting from the necklace to various objects around the kitchen but never Jughead’s face or eyes. It’s as if he felt that if he kept from looking his friend in the eye, he could avoid the inevitable. Jughead looked directly at Archie, really examining his face. The sweat that was forming on his brow, the bobbing of his Adam’s apple, the averted eyes, the nervous chewing motion Archie was making with his mouth. It was as if until that point, Jughead had seen everything through a dirty window but suddenly those windows were clean and he saw everything clearly for the first time.

Archie broke the silence. “Yes. She must have left it then.” He took a deep breath and moved his hands from the counter to his lap, the soda staying untouched on the table. He closed his eyes and finally looked up at Jughead. He could see the hurt in Jughead’s eyes, but there was something else. Anger? Archie wasn’t sure. “I’m sorry you had to find out like this.”

Jughead put the hand holding the necklace down on the counter and stood up abruptly, tilting his head to the side. His mouth opened up into a smile that did not reach his eyes. “You’re sorry that I found out like this. That’s what you’re sorry about?”

“Yes. I mean I know she’s your ex and getting together breaks all kinds of friendship rules but we just fell into it.” Archie shrugged. It was the truth, wasn’t it?   
  
“My ex. That’s what you say Betty was to me. My ex. She was so much more than that to me. We were so much more than that and you know it Archie!” Jughead was now standing with his arms crossed again and he could barely keep his voice from rising into a full-blown yell. 

Archie knew he could expect Jughead to be upset over finding out about him and Betty but he wasn’t sure where this anger was coming from. Jughead had forgiven him his indiscretion with Betty in high school and now he and Betty were both free to do as they pleased. So what was the problem? He sat up straight and threw his hands in the air, letting them fall on his thighs.   
  
“What are you so angry about, it’s been seven years Jughead! I can’t help how I feel! And she wanted it too.”

“Yes, that’s what it always comes down to, Archie. You and your feelings. You can never help your feelings so you never have to take responsibility for the damage you cause by blindly acting on them.” Jughead took a few steps back with his arms still crossed. The anger had subsided and was turning into something else. Something cold and sharp, like a switchblade.

“What are you talking about Jug? Look, I’m sorry that you’re upset but I’m just being honest.”

Jughead let out an involuntary scoff, followed by a little laugh. He closed his eyes and shook his head, taking a deep breath in. Archie Andrews was sorry that Jughead Jones was upset because Archie was just being honest. How many times had he heard that before? How many times had he fallen for that pathetic excuse for an apology? He looked at his childhood best friend with a clarity he had never had before and for what felt like the first time, saw Archie for what he truly was. 

“You’re sorry, Archie. Well that’s nice. Because I’m sorry too.” Jughead pressed his lips together and raised his eyebrows, forming a tight-lipped smile while nodding his head.

  
“You are?” Archie asked, visibly confused but sounding a little bit relieved too.

“Yes, Archie. I am. Because I lied to you. I lied to you Seven years ago, when you were leaving for the Army. I told you I wasn’t mad about you kissing Betty. I lied. I was mad. I was furious. I still am. But that’s not what I’m sorry about.” Jughead walked towards Archie and let his arms fall down to his sides, trailing the edge of the kitchen island with one hand while never breaking eye contact with Archie. 

  
“I’m sorry Betty and I fell in love.”

Archie was not sure what was going on. He had apologised the best way he knew how but now Jughead was saying something like this? “Why are you sorry about that?”

Jughead looked at Archie, thinking how could it have taken him so many years to see their friendship for what it truly was. An extremely one-sided affair that always seemed to work out in Archie’s favour. But not anymore. It was over now and Jughead knew it. He just needed to serve the final blows.   
  


“I’m sorry about it all. I’m sorry you rejected Betty sophomore year and that made her decide to move on. I’m sorry I saw my chance with her and took it. I’m sorry I kissed her. I’m sorry she kissed me back. I’m sorry we built something beautiful together. Because by doing that, we hurt you.” 

“What? Jughead, no you didn’t…” Archie started to say but he closed his mouth as soon as Jughead snapped back at him.

“We hurt you, Archie. And I’m sorry. I’m sorry we hurt you because we made you realise that you are not the center of the universe. I’m sorry we made you wake up to the revelation that we have lives, desires, and passions that have absolutely nothing to do with you or your feelings. Because that’s your worst nightmare, isn’t it Archibald? To wake up in a world where everything does not revolve around you.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about Jughead!” Archie took a few steps towards Jughead but before he could go any further, Jughead put his hand out and pushed him back to sit in the chair which scooted back with a screech. Jughead put his hand down and took a few steps back. He was taking deep breaths now to calm himself. If he was going to do this, he needed to keep his cool and serve this dish ice cold. He tried to ignore the way his throat was tightening and the tears were welling up in his eyes at the thought that this, here, in the Andrews kitchen is where it all would end.

“But you know what I am most sorry about?” Jughead’s voice cracked and he knew he had to get out of that house before he lost his composure. He started to walk towards the front door, picking up his bag and turning to look at Archie one more time.

“I’m sorry I thought that our friendship was genuine. I’m sorry that I thought that you knew what she meant to me and that you would respect that. I’m sorry I ever trusted you. But I guess I just couldn't help how I felt.” He spat out the last words at Archie who was now standing in the kitchen entrance, motionless and looking like he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. 

Jughead turned around, barely fighting back the tears of anger and hurt that were close to breaking the surface. He walked towards the front door but a familiar figure standing by the stairs made him freeze on the spot.

Betty. He could tell by the way she was standing there, stiff and motionless, that she had heard most of what he had said to Archie. He looked at her and that was the final push his crumbling exterior needed to form a crack. He felt the first tear starting to roll down his cheek and he abruptly turned towards the door because he wanted to run out of there as fast as he could. 

“Jug, please…” Betty started to say and lifted a hand to touch his arm but Jughead pulled away.

“No, Betty. No.” Jughead was now unable to stop the tears from running down his face. ”I don’t want to hear it. Not ever again. Your necklace is on the kitchen table if that’s what you’re looking for.”

Jughead opened the door but suddenly the sight of Betty brought up the need to say just a little bit more. “I’m sorry about one more thing.” He directed his words to Betty, ignoring Archie who had gone to sit on the couch with his head in his hands. She looked at him with those same big eyes that had eviscerated him that night seven years ago when she told him about kissing Archie. When she had cried and tried to kiss the pain away. When they had made furious love all night, trying to ignore the fact that something had permanently changed between them and that there was no going back. He could never hate her, he knew that. But now, he couldn’t look at her and he couldn’t stand to be near her.

“I’m sorry that those Stonewall kids didn’t do a better job and that I didn’t actually die. Because that would have made this so much easier for all of us. Wouldn’t it?” With that he walked out of the Andrews front door and didn’t look back. 

He didn’t see Betty sit down on the stairs like she had the wind knocked out of her and stare at the closed front door for what felt like an eternity. He didn’t see her quietly get up, retrieve her necklace from the kitchen and then, walk out the door without saying a word to Archie. He didn’t see her go home and spend the rest of the evening and most of the night, sitting at her windowsill and staring out into the night. And he didn’t see how, through it all, her mind whirred and whizzed until it came up with just how she was going to put an end to all of the hurt between them once and for all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: Betty and Archie have it out.


	2. Shut Up and Let Me Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Betty faces the music and Archie thinks the song is about him. He's just so vain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ain't freakin'  
> I ain't fakin' this  
> Shut up and let me go  
> Hey!  
> Shut up and let me go  
> This hurts what I can't show  
> For the last time you have me in bits  
> Now shut up and let me go  
> For fear of living in regret  
> I've changed since from when we first met  
> Now oh so easily you're over me  
> Gone is love  
> It's me that ought to be moving on  
> You're not adorable  
> I want something un-ignorable
> 
> "Shut Up and Let Me Go"  
> The Ting Tings  
> Album: We Started Nothing  
> Year: 2008

Betty was sitting at a booth at Pop’s with her notebook open and enjoying a slice of apple pie and a cup of coffee. Or, enjoying was not exactly the right word. The apple pie was almost untouched, she was on her fifth cup of coffee, and it wasn’t even noon yet. She hadn’t had much sleep lately, not since Jughead had found her necklace at Archie’s and everything had come crumbling down. 

Jughead’s words had been ringing in her head on and off. She heard them when she woke up, when she laid her head down for the night, and whenever she had a brief pause during the day. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t die. That would have been easier, wouldn’t it?’ Easier? When him almost dying was what had set her down this path of lies and bad choices in the first place. The nightmares Betty was still having about the Trash Bag Killer weren’t helping either and she was pretty much running on fumes.

For the past few days, Betty had only done her mandatory daily routines. She had taught her classes, done her house chores, and ran only the most necessary errands. She had managed to ignore and avoid interacting with anyone except her students, her mother, and the twins. 

She successfully steered clear of Jughead and Archie, which had been quite the chore in itself. She might have even let herself into Pop’s late one night to check the shift schedules, just to see when Jughead was working. Betty had her lunch in the shop room and used a side entrance to get into school. Archie had still continued to text her, though, and Betty picked up her phone to look at his last text one more time. 

“Hey B, hope U OK. Netflix & chill later?” 

She huffed and stared at the screen. The text was just so… Archie. Either he was incapable of understanding what had just gone down with Jughead and what that meant for all of them, or he just didn’t want to. Maybe he just didn’t care. Betty suspected that it was a combination of all of those. Archie Andrews only understood what related to Archie Andrews and everything else was thrown to the side. Betty had always known this on some level but it took her witnessing how flippant Archie had been towards Jughead the other day for it to finally sink in.

As if on cue, the front door of the diner chimed and Archie walked in. Before she knew it, he had spotted Betty and sat across from her with a smile.“Hey B, there you are! What’s up, you haven’t been answering any of my texts. You OK?” He shrugged out of his coat and ordered a milkshake and cheese fries from the waitress who had walked up to the booth.

Betty paused to look at him for a while and felt a wave of irritation crawl all over her like an army of ants. There he was, invading her space as if nothing had happened. Like he hadn’t just had his ass verbally handed to him a few days ago by their mutual friend. 

“Yeah, I’ve just been a bit preoccupied I guess,” trailing off as Archie nonchalantly picked up her fork and took a bite out of her pie. The ant army picked up its pace on her skin and she just wanted to crawl out of it, and use her loose skin to slap Archie across the face. “Help yourself,” she said through a tight smile and pushed her plate towards him, with maybe a bit more force than necessary. 

“You don’t mind?” Archie asked, already going for a second bite. Betty crossed her arms on the table and looked straight at him, feeling suddenly even more tired than she had felt before. She shifted in her seat, trying and failing to find a more comfortable position. “Have I ever?”

“What do you mean?” Archie asked, still chewing on the pie. He was puzzled about her tone, she couldn’t still be upset about what happened with Jughead the other day? Sure it had been dramatic and he knew that it would take a while for things to calm down with Jughead but it was what it was. The truth about him and Betty was bound to come out eventually. It could have come out in a better way but now that it was out, Jughead just had to accept it. It’s not like, after so many years, anyone owed him anything.

“Nothing, Archie.” Betty waved her hand in front of her face and leaned back against her seat, briefly looking up at the ceiling and closing her eyes. She rolled her shoulders a couple of times to relieve the tension in her neck but it was no use. “Just eat it, I’m not that hungry anyway.”

“Thanks!” He grabbed the plate with a smile and took another bite out of the pie. The waitress came back with Archie’s order and as soon as Archie finished, he grabbed his milkshake and took a big slurp. Betty was still leaning in her seat with her arms crossed and staring at him. She still felt the pain of Jughead’s words but Archie seemed to be unfazed.

She had to admit that his ability to happily bounce back from any setbacks without a scratch had once been one of his most endearing qualities in her eyes. But that ideal had since worn away and changed from endearing to irritating and now plain infuriating. Though she also had to admit that the way his downright stubborn cluelessness about how his actions impacted the people around him was kind of mesmerising. The counselors at the Bureau would have a field day with Archie, that was for sure. 

Betty felt the start of a headache building up behind her eyes. Whether it was the lack of sleep, the excess amounts of coffee, or the sight of Archie happily chewing on his fries making her feel the weight of all of her bad decisions, she didn’t know. All she knew is that she had to get out of Pop’s and get some fresh air. Thank goodness she had paid for the coffee and pie when she had ordered it, because she had to leave immediately.

“Hey Archie, I need to go. I forgot that I have a Glamazon package that’s being delivered in about 15 minutes.” Betty muttered her other standard excuse for getting rid of bad company since ‘I have to feed my cat’ was not an option right now, what with Toffee still being back in DC. She stuffed her journal into her purse, grabbed her coat, and walked out the door before her coat was even properly on.

She started walking towards Elm Street with brisk steps, enjoying the way the fresh air cleared her head and yet wanting to get home as soon as possible so that she could be alone for a while. But she wasn’t that lucky. She felt a hand on her shoulder and suddenly Archie was standing right there in front of her, a bit out of breath.

“Betty, what’s going on? I wanted to talk to you. Look, if this is about what happened the other day with Jughead I understand that you’re upset. He said some pretty harsh things and it was pretty intense but it’s not your fault.” Archie patted her shoulder with a smile. 

“It’s not my fault?” Betty swiped his hand away, not even trying to hide the irritation in her voice anymore. “How do you make this about me? Did you listen to what he said? Did you not see how upset he was?” She stared at Archie with her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open, just feeling the irritation starting to crawl all over her skin again.

“Yeah well that was Jughead being Jughead.” Archie shrugged. “You don’t owe him anything. I don’t understand why he thinks we should be accountable to him.”

Betty huffed, crossed her arms over her chest and looked down on the ground and then snapped her head back up and fixed Archie with a cold stare. “Wow. Jughead was right. And I guess I always knew it too but I didn’t want to acknowledge it. You really think that none of this concerns you? You actually live your life thinking that your actions have no consequences to the people around you and that somehow everything is always everybody else’s fault but yours?” She started to walk past him with brisk steps but stopped when Archie yelled back at her.

“Don’t you think that you’re being a bit of a hypocrite here Betty? We had sex because we both wanted to. You’re just as much to blame as I am, this was your choice too.”

Betty turned around so hard her purse almost fell off her shoulder but she caught it with firm grip. Betty was not irritated or tired anymore. She was exhausted. Exhausted and livid.

“Yes Archie, you are right. I made that choice and no one forced me to do anything. But the difference between you and me is that I realise that that choice was wrong with real consequences. And I take responsibility for that. You, however, just do what you always do.”

“Oh yeah, and what’s that Betty?” Archie was also getting visibly angry, but there was also sincere confusion in his eyes. He really had no idea where this was all coming from.

“Assume that you can just give into whatever reactive, impulsive, childish urge you have and make out with dealing with any fallout. As long as you get to be the center of it all. Just look at your quest to save this godforsaken dump of a town.” Betty spat out and made exaggerated air quotes around the word “save”.

“What did you just say?” Archie’s breathed out in a whisper as his mouth fell open in shock and he visibly swallowed.

“Once again you’re on one of your pointless selfish quests and managed to somehow rope the rest of us in. Just so you know, I only stayed at first to avoid going back to DC and now I just want to find Polly and whoever abducted her. But after that? I want to leave as fast as I can.” Betty said the last sentence almost half to herself. 

It’s as if the words came out automatically but once they were out there, she knew them to be true. She wanted out as soon as she could, and she wouldn’t let anyone stop her.

“What happened to you, Betty?” Archie took a couple of steps back, as if to examine her from afar. “What happened to the sweet girl who was always ready to help everyone and was so nice about it?” He looked almost as if he were disappointed and genuinely a bit hurt by Betty’s revelation.

“She grew up.” Betty answered curtly. “And honestly Archie, I don’t think that she ever really existed in the first place. At least not the way you wanted her to exist.” She looked him straight in the eye, unflinching, until he was the one who turned his gaze away first.

“And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m fucking exhausted and I want to go home. If you find any more of my stuff at your house, just bring it over to me at school. I’ll see you around.” Betty turned around to go but stopped and bit her lip in frustration when Archie called after her again.

“So that’s it then? Fine. You know, I genuinely think that I’m doing the right thing here but if you can’t see it then that’s not my problem.” He turned around and started walking back to Pop’s without even saying goodbye. Betty didn’t turn around to watch him go, she just continued walking home. 

As she walked on, a sense of relief came over her. She had said what needed to be said and that was it. She wasn’t even sad that her arrangement with Archie had come to such an abrupt end, she knew from the beginning that it had a short shelf life. But there was still a big lump in her chest and a knot in her stomach, and she knew that there was one conversation she couldn’t put off for much longer. 

And no matter what the consequences of that would be, it had to happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still haven't watched the show but I know that Betty and Archie are over in canon (yay!) and that Archie and Veronica are back on (nay!). This was mostly written before that which is why there is no mention of Veronica. But I think that she might make an appearance later on.


End file.
